Battle ready

If we were heading off to battle, we would want to do it with a map of the terrain, an awesome battle plan, and the most incredible weapons. We would want to be fully equipped for whatever came our way. The truth is we head off to battle everyday … a spiritual battle.

As Christians, we are part of God’s army and everyday we are faced with the challenge of honouring God with our lifestyle and our faith. Where the difficulty lies, is within the trials we face each day. But, by knowing God’s Word and keeping it in our heart at all times, we can have the confidence to fight the battle everyday.

51 Word Bible

God's Creation!

  Satan's Deception. 

    Adam's Consumption.

      Noah's Boat. 

        Abraham's Faith. 

          Joseph's Dreams.

            Pharaoh’s Oppression. 

              Moses' Escape. 

                Doubters’Wandering.

                  Joshua's Conquests. 

                    Judges’ Strength. 

                      David's Slingshot.

                        Solomon's Wisdom. 

                          Prophets' Proclamations. 

                            Israel’s Scattering.

                              Mary's Delivery!

                                Jesus' Miracles. 

                                  Rabbi’s Lessons. 

                                    Lamb’s Death. 

                                      Resurrection!

                                        Spirit's Arrival. 

                                          Disciples’ Testimony.

                                            Paul's Letters.

                                              Churches' Multiplication. 

                                                World's Demise.

                                                   Heaven's Triumph!

Earth is salted with beauty that leaves us wanting more

Ecclesiastes 3:11  “He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but man cannot discover the work God has done from beginning to end.”

God has strewn exquisite beauty all around us, but only on a sample platter.  Beauty, says Ecclesiastes, has a time-limit.  Just a taste here, a glimpse there, a fleeting touch, and then it’s over.  God sprinkles just enough eternity over us to make earth feel incomplete.  We sense it in our souls -- earth’s paradises are only appetizers, leaving us hungry for more. 

Is life just a tragic comedy that means nothing?  So the best you can do is follow Solomon’s philosophy to eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow you die. Or could it be that God has brushed the commonplace with the scent of Another Place to lead us to the one place where we can find what we’re looking for?  Maybe all our unfulfilled longings are meant to drive us to God Himself.

Everything in the world and in the Word points here. 

Romans 1:20 makes this connection as well:  “From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”  

Psalm 19:1-2 tells us that “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.” 

God wants us to find our happiness in Him, the only One who can fill the hollow places of our soul. 

Holy Gossip - is there such a thing?

Did you know Gossip is related to the word for godparent, so it has a holy derivation. I was shocked when I discovered this! Unholy gossip is bad, of course, but I have a healthy respect for holy gossip.

I love the time just before prayer meeting starts on Sunday mornings where we sit in the peacefulness of the sanctuary and in that holy environment we contemplate the week past and all the people we have met and shared with, what's really been happening, and we share the joys and concerns for our church family and the community.   This is an amazing way to get focussed before the Lord and pray with holy intent.

Holy gossip is so much a part of being a member of community - staying in touch with friends, neighbours and relatives - does he really want to see people, or is he too tired? Should I drop in today? That is good gossip. This not only helps with prayer but also it helps me know who to ring or bump into during the coming week.

I personally believe holy gossip helps us build a stronger church community - which in turn makes a more positive impact on our community!

 

What was God thinking?

This is certainly an accurate description of the beginning of the Christian movement. I doubt that any of us would have devised God's invasion of human history the way he did.

Jesus was born as an apparently illegitimate child to an unmarried couple who were obscure members of a small nation on the outskirts of the Roman Empire. He lived in such obscurity that apart from the New Testament we know very little about him (although the Roman and Jewish historical references corroborate the New Testament). His brief three-year public ministry ended apparently in complete failure: rejected by his people, betrayed by one of his disciples, deserted by the rest, condemned by Rome, and erased in the most ignominious form of execution.

Even though his disciples claimed he was the Messiah who was raised from the dead, they were hardly the kind of people you would expect to start a worldwide movement. They were blue-collar workers who came from the wrong part of Israel and had no formal education, military might, or political clout. This movement should have evaporated like hundreds of other small religious sects.